What Sony and Microsoft's new consoles will mean for Wii U

A renewed focus on games, second-screen enhancements and streaming will feature heavily in upcoming consoles. Did Wii U get the jump, or will it be beaten at its own game?

What the competition offers

Sony and Microsoft find themselves in a bit of an odd position right now in terms of convincing their customers that they need a new machine. Firstly, diminishing?returns on the advancement of graphics technology means there will not be such a defined leap between last gen and this one as there was between PS2 and PS3.

Secondly there?s the problem of services. Most the innovation and appeal of current-gen consoles has been in their services, media and social integration. Xbox 360 in particular has become a bona fide part of many people?s lounge rooms, serving up television, sport and movies on demand as well as offering a full complement of web and social services plus all manner of games delivered digitally. That can?t really be improved through new hardware. In fact it could be argued that the vast majority of new customers seen in last gen?s games boom were attracted by features that don?t need iteration, be that ESPN on Xbox 360 or Wii Fit on Wii.

People who bought a new console primarily for those things will not need a new one, no matter what?s offered. So what can Microsoft and Sony offer that will genuinely move units?

Well first of all I think they?ll move a lot less units than everybody?s expecting, at least at first. Just like with PS2, the old consoles will undoubtedly be around and actively supported for many years after the new consoles launch, and with so many people so comfy with their 360s it could be a while before critical mass. Wii U has been taking a lot of flak for its slow rate of sale, but I wouldn?t be surprised to see a similar phenomenon when the other two launch.

That said, Sony has put their flag in the ground and showed off parts of their new system, declaring?unequivocally?that the PlayStation 4 will take the focus off media and connectivity and put it squarely back on games. This is a smart move, since as I mentioned anybody not interested solely in games is likely to stick with the older hardware. Sony?s thrown a ton of technical innovation and smarts at PlayStation 4.

Its x86 processor and PC-like build will mean developers can easily use it as a lead console or port over from virtually anything to PlayStation 4. They?re also supporting self-publishing for indies. The cloud will play a big role too,?although I do sense a great deal of skepticism in the company?s ability to pull off full-game?streaming?to the extent they claim they will. All in all, Sony is making a clear power-play not just to PS3 customers but to all gamers.

No Netflix, no Twitter, no pushing services in your face. Sony wants you to believe that Ps4, like Wii U, will focus on games.

Much is yet to be seen of the PlayStation 4, and virtually all is yet to be seen of the next Xbox, but there are some features that are no-brainers. A more app-store-like online service is obligatory, for example. Nintendo made big claims about this before the launch of Wii U too, saying indies would get full support and set their own prices. The eShop is coming along but Ninty will be in trouble if either of the other two have an online store teeming at launch and ready to release handfuls of smaller titles every week. Sony recently announced that all PS4 games would be available digitally, which is another similarity with Wii U, although with some PlayStation 4 games clocking in at north of 60GB in size, that may not be much of an advantage.

Subscription and loyalty services will also play a part. PlayStation Plus has become a huge hit and will continue on PS4. Microsoft would be smart to drop the pay-for-online model and adopt a similar loyalty program. Either way free-to-play will largely replace game demos and trials, and social connectivity will still play a huge part of both consoles, so each will be looking to build a?dedicated?consumer base.

In all it?s fair to say that Nintendo had its finger on the pulse of what would matter this generation when they designed Wii U, and it absolutely has the potential to compete directly with the two upcoming consoles in many respects. It would appear that Nintendo has failed to live up to that potential somewhat in the early days, but then Nintendo doesn?t exactly colour inside the lines very often, and their social-friendly infrastructure and indie-ready online service is liable to kick off at any time. The most important thing to note here is that Nintendo does not intend to compete with the other two console directly as they compete with each other, however have the ability to successful ensured they appeal to some customers who might only want one console.

Could the new consoles improve Wii U?s fortunes?

It?s well know that stimulation within an industry can work out well for companies across the board. For example the release of a new iPad might result in an increase in interest toward Samsung tablets. Could the release of two new video game consoles result in an increase in Wii U sales?

On one hand the case of iPad vs Android is very different indeed to PlayStation vs Xbox vs Wii U. Nintendo is not seeking to provide an alternative to the other two beefier consoles. As Shigeru Miyamoto once said, the company wants to avoid the industry ?having only ferocious?dinosaurs. They might fight and hasten their own extinction?. Nintendo envisions a market in which the decision to purchase a Wii U is completely?separate?from the ?decision to purchase a PlayStation 4 or next-generation Xbox.

On the other hand, the consoles do all sit next to each other on the department store shelves, they do all offer a broadly similar experience and they do compete for mindshare and the almighty consumer dollar.

Directly following Sony?s PlayStation 4 presentation last week, some analysts were seen to point out a strange happening in the stock prices of Sony and Nintendo. The immediate reaction was that Sony Japan and Sony US dropped in value, while Nintendo Japan and Nintendo US rose in value. The most popular explanation for this is that stockholders were underwhelmed by Sony?s showing and so their confidence in Nintendo?s ability to stay competitive has been bolstered. I personally think something a little different is at play, and I reject the notion that this movement in stocks is even very weird at all. Take a look at this chart comparing some key milestones in the games industry and the simplified movement of stock for Sony and Nintendo.

The fact is stock will often drop following a major announcement or release, mainly because stock is usually building up in expectation in the weeks and months before the event (in this case Sony?s US stocks had rocketed a decent 30% in the two months prior to the announcement) and so a small downward adjustment directly afterward makes perfect sense.

But what of the upward swing for the opponent companies? ?Why did Sony gain following Nintendo?s Wii remote demo during TGS 2005? And why did Nintendo rise just recently after the PS4 event?

Put simply, people will always give more value to an?unknown quantity?than they will to a known one. When Nintendo?s Wii U is the only new console out and can only be compared to spectral, exciting, mysterious future consoles, it?s natural to be a little down on Nintendo?s machine. However once Sony?s PS4 starts to take physical shape the effect will begin to reverse itself. Once Sony and Microsoft have both released their consoles and Wii U is no longer solely compared to imaginary machines?of mythical proportions that the consoles themselves will very likely not attain, I think we?re likely to see the company stock and?people?s?opinions of the consoles level out.

5 short-term predictions

So, having said all that, what will the next few months of next-gen fever bring, and what will it mean for Wii U?

• The next Xbox will come bundled with a new Kinect and be fundamentally designed to stream to SmartGlass apps on smartphones and tablets. This will mean all three consoles have motion control, off-TV play and asynchronous local multiplayer capabilities.
• Wii U will launch its virtual console once the period of 30 cent introductory games is completed, and by the holiday season there will be a decent library of classic games and an entire eShop subsection of indie games. This will be a conscious attempt to combat the digital offerings of the two incoming systems.
• As third-parties spend more time with the Wii U dev kits more and more cross-platform games will arrive for the system, and while the two new consoles will be more powerful than Wii U it will become clear that isn?t as big a deal as it was for Wii vs 360 and PS3.
• The next Xbox will not be as game-focused as Wii U and Ps4, and will suffer initially as a result.
• Once both new consoles are revealed we will see start to see a lot less gloom towards Wii U.

Be sure to make your own predictions in the comments about how the upcoming console launches will affect Wii U.

Source: http://wiiudaily.com/2013/02/sony-consoles-wii-u/

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Van Cliburn, pianist and Cold War hero, dies at 78

FILE - This Sept. 21, 2004 file photo shows pianist Van Cliburn performing during at a concert dedicated to the memory of the victims of the recent Beslan school massacre in Moscow. Cliburn, the internationally celebrated pianist whose triumph at a 1958 Moscow competition helped thaw the Cold War and launched a spectacular career that made him the rare classical musician to enjoy rock star status died early Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013, at his Fort Worth home following a battle with bone cancer. He was 78. (AP Photo/Sergey Ponomarev, file)

FILE - This Sept. 21, 2004 file photo shows pianist Van Cliburn performing during at a concert dedicated to the memory of the victims of the recent Beslan school massacre in Moscow. Cliburn, the internationally celebrated pianist whose triumph at a 1958 Moscow competition helped thaw the Cold War and launched a spectacular career that made him the rare classical musician to enjoy rock star status died early Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013, at his Fort Worth home following a battle with bone cancer. He was 78. (AP Photo/Sergey Ponomarev, file)

FILE - This April 11, 1958 file photo shows pianist Van Cliburn performing in final round of Tchaikovsky International Piano & Violin competition in Moscow. Cliburn, the internationally celebrated pianist whose triumph at a 1958 Moscow competition helped thaw the Cold War and launched a spectacular career that made him the rare classical musician to enjoy rock star status died early Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013, at his Fort Worth home following a battle with bone cancer. He was 78. (AP Photo, file)

FILE - This July 12, 2003 file photo shows pianist Van Cliburn after performing with the Boston Symphony Orchestra as the Orchestra plays "Happy Birthday," on his 69th birthday at Tanglewood in Lenox, Mass. Cliburn, the internationally celebrated pianist whose triumph at a 1958 Moscow competition helped thaw the Cold War and launched a spectacular career that made him the rare classical musician to enjoy rock star status died early Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013, at his Fort Worth home following a battle with bone cancer. He was 78. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer, file)

FILE - This March 2, 2011 file photo shows President Barack Obama presenting a 2010 National Medal of Arts to pianist Van Cliburn during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington. Cliburn, the internationally celebrated pianist whose triumph at a 1958 Moscow competition helped thaw the Cold War and launched a spectacular career that made him the rare classical musician to enjoy rock star status died early Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013, at his Fort Worth home following a battle with bone cancer. He was 78. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, file)

FILE - This Sept. 18, 2008 file photo shows pianist Van Cliburn at the presentation ceremony of the Liberty Medal that was presented to former President of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev in Philadelphia. Cliburn, the internationally celebrated pianist whose triumph at a 1958 Moscow competition helped thaw the Cold War and launched a spectacular career that made him the rare classical musician to enjoy rock star status died early Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013, at his Fort Worth home following a battle with bone cancer. (AP Photo/Tom Mihalek, file)

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) ? For a time in Cold War America, Van Cliburn had all the trappings of a rock star: sold-out concerts, adoring, out-of-control fans and a name recognized worldwide. He even got a ticker-tape parade in New York City.

And he did it all with only a piano and some Tchaikovsky concertos.

The celebrated pianist played for every American president since Harry Truman, plus royalty and heads of state around the world. But he is best remembered for winning a 1958 piano competition in Moscow that helped thaw the icy rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union.

Cliburn, who died Wednesday at 78 after fighting bone cancer, was "a great humanitarian and a brilliant musician whose light will continue to shine through his extraordinary legacy," said his publicist and longtime friend Mary Lou Falcone. "He will be missed by all who knew and admired him, and by countless people he never met."

The young man from the small east Texas town of Kilgore was a baby-faced 23-year-old when he won the first International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow just six months after the Soviets' launch of Sputnik embarrassed the U.S. and inaugurated the space race.

Cliburn returned to a hero's welcome and the ticker-tape parade ? the first ever for a classical musician. A Time magazine cover proclaimed him "The Texan Who Conquered Russia."

The win also showed the power of the arts, creating unity despite the tension between the superpowers. Music-loving Soviets clamored to see him perform. Premier Nikita Khrushchev reportedly gave the go-ahead for the judges to honor a foreigner: "Is Cliburn the best? Then give him first prize."

In the years that followed, Cliburn's popularity soared. He sold out concerts and caused riots when he was spotted in public. His fame even prompted an Elvis Presley fan club to change its name to his. His recording of the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1 with Russian conductor Kirill Kondrashin became the first classical album to reach platinum status.

Time magazine's 1958 cover story quoted a friend as saying Cliburn could become "the first man in history to be a Horowitz, Liberace and Presley all rolled into one."

Russian pianist Denis Matsuev, who won the Tchaikovsky competition in 1998 at the age of 23, the same age as Cliburn, said Cliburn's "romantic style captured the hearts of Soviet audience."

"Everyone was in love with him," Matsuev said. "And he loved the Soviet Union, Russia and the Russian public."

Matsuev, who knew Cliburn personally, described him as an "incredibly delicate, kind and gentle man who dedicated his entire life to art."

He also used his skill and fame to help other young musicians through the Van Cliburn International Music Competition, held every four years. Created in 1962 by a group of Fort Worth teachers and citizens, it remains among the top showcases for the world's best pianists.

"Since we know that classical music is timeless and everlasting, it is precisely the eternal verities inherent in classical music that remain a spiritual beacon for people all over the world," Cliburn once said.

President George W. Bush presented Cliburn with the Presidential Medal of Freedom ? the nation's highest civilian honor ? in 2003. The following year, he received the Order of Friendship of the Russian Federation from Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"I still have lots of friends in Russia," Cliburn said at the time. "It's always a great pleasure to talk to older people in Russia, to hear their anecdotes."

After the death of his father in 1974, Cliburn announced he would soon retire to spend more time with his ailing mother. He stopped touring in 1978.

Among other things, touring robbed him of the chance to enjoy opera and other musical performances.

"I said to myself, 'Life is too short.' I was missing so much," he told The New York Times in 2008. After winning the competition, "it was thrilling to be wanted. But it was pressure, too."

Cliburn emerged from his sabbatical in 1987, when he played at a state dinner at the White House during the historic visit of Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. Gorbachev leapt from his seat to give the pianist a bear-hug and kisses on the cheeks. Nancy Reagan, then the first lady, has called that night one of the greatest moments of her husband's presidency.

"After not playing in public for many years, he agreed to make an exception for this occasion, and his beautiful music brought the whole room to tears," Reagan said in a statement Wednesday, adding that "the world has lost a true treasure."

Cliburn was born Harvey Lavan Cliburn Jr. on July 12, 1934, in Shreveport, La., the son of oilman Harvey Cliburn Sr. and Rildia Bee O'Bryan Cliburn. At age 3, he began studying piano with his mother, herself an accomplished pianist who had studied with a pupil of the great 19th century Hungarian pianist Franz Liszt.

The family moved back to Kilgore within a few years of his birth.

Cliburn won his first Texas competition when he was 12, and two years later he played in Carnegie Hall as the winner of the National Music Festival Award.

At 17, Cliburn attended the Juilliard School in New York, where fellow students marveled at his marathon practice sessions that stretched until 3 a.m. He studied under the famed Russian-born pianist Rosina Lhevinne.

Between 1952 and 1958, he won all but one competition he entered, including the G.B. Dealey Award from the Dallas Symphony, the Kosciusko Foundation Chopin Scholarship and the prestigious Leventritt. By age 20, he had played with the New York Philharmonic and the symphonies of most major cities.

Cliburn's career seemed ready to take off until his name came up for the draft. He had to cancel all shows but was eventually excused from duty due to chronic nosebleeds.

Over the next few years, Cliburn's international popularity continued as he recorded pieces ranging from Mozart to a concerto by American Edward McDowell. Still, having been trained by some of the best Russian teachers in the world, Cliburn's heart was Russian, with the Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff concertos.

After 1990, Cliburn toured Japan numerous times and performed throughout the United States. He was in the midst of a 16-city U.S. tour in 1994 when his mother died at age 97.

Cliburn, who made his home in Fort Worth, endowed scholarships at many schools, including Juilliard, which gave him an honorary doctorate, and the Moscow and Leningrad conservatories. In December 2001, he was presented with the prestigious Kennedy Center Honors Medallion at the televised tribute held in Washington.

He practiced daily and performed limited engagements until only recently. His last public appearance came in September at the 50th anniversary of the prestigious piano competition bearing his name.

Speaking to the audience in Fort Worth, he saluted the many past contestants, the orchestra and the city: "Never forget: I love you all from the bottom of my heart, forever." The audience responded with a roaring standing ovation.

___

Associated Press writer Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow contributed to this report.

___

Online:

Van Cliburn Foundation: http://www.cliburn.org

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-02-27-Obit-Cliburn/id-22b8444bd33a4525b397a1ec76b85599

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Early Kipling poem 'Big Knockers' discovered

BREAST-THEMED poetry by the teenage Rudyard Kipling has been unearthed in a Manhattan home.

Poetry critic Emma Bradford said: ?Pubescent boys of Kipling?s era were highly repressed and wrote breast poetry as a means of releasing their exuberance.

?The main themes are typically bouncing and jiggling.?

The poem ?Big Knockers? opens: ?Cor, look at them/Big knockers/Heaving fruits of love/They shall be emblazoned on my mind?s eye/Until bedtime.?

Source: http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/arts-entertainment/early-kipling-poem-big-knockers-discovered-2013022661059

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'Last Exorcism: Part II'? Eli Roth Knows It's An 'Absurd' Title

Horror director speaks about the freedom of leaving found footage behind.
By Kevin P. Sullivan

Ashley Bell in "The Last Exorcism: Part II"
Photo: CBS Films

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1702683/last-exorcism-part-ii-eli-roth.jhtml

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Geeksphone Keon hands-on: a small Firefox OS phone that has big dreams (video)

Geeksphone may be an online phone seller based in Spain, but the name of its lower-end Firefox OS reference phone, Keon, appears to be Dutch. Regardless of the title's origin, the part of the phone that's most intriguing is the fact that it's one of the first to bear Mozilla's mobile platform. It isn't much in the way of specs, and that's easy enough to tell from just glancing at it, thanks to a 3.5-inch HVGA display. Still, the Keon's set of specs is actually on par with the Firefox protocol. This means that for roughly around 100 euros, we can expect to see a device with a 3MP camera, 512MB RAM, 4GB internal storage, a 1,580mAh battery and a 1GHz single-core Snapdragon S17225A CPU. Don't expect an earth-shattering experience on this kind of phone, as it's meant to reside strictly on the low end. The Keon will be making its way onto the official company store in the next few weeks, so stay tuned. In the meantime, we've made a lovely video and photo gallery below, so check them out.

Gallery: Geeksphone Keon hands-on

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/25/geeksphone-keon-hands-on/

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'Identity Thief' Wins Box Office During Oscars Weekend

While Melissa McCarthy was presenting at Sunday night's show, she also took back the #1 spot at the box office.
By Ryan J. Downey

Melissa McCarthy in "Identity Thief"
Photo: Universal Pictures

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1702538/identity-thief-oscars-weekend-box-office.jhtml

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Visa and Samsung ink worldwide NFC deal, practically guarantees payWave on your Galaxy S IV

First, the good news. It appears that Visa and Samsung's Olympics trial went over so well, that it's expanding those mobile payment dreams to a global audience. Now, the rough news -- Visa has convinced Samsung to pre-load the payWave app onto every future Samsung smartphone with an NFC module. Granted, you'd be using that anyway for contactless payments... but only if you had a Visa card. At this point, it's practically a given that the impending Galaxy S IV will boast not only an NFC chip, but payWave integration from the factory.

The deal also gives banks the ability to load payment account information over-the-air to a secure chip embedded in Samsung devices (thanks, Mobile Provisioning Service), but neither company is coming clean on what devices in particular will be taking advantage. Unfortunately, this news may be even gloomier for non-Visa users -- it's unlikely Samsung's contract will allow it to announce similar deals with competing mobile payment services, but we suppose we'll see in time.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Samsung

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Via: TechCrunch

Source: Visa

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/25/visa-samsung-worldwide-nfc-partnership-payments/

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Egypt's Morsi calls for dialogue on elections

AAA??Feb. 24, 2013?8:39 PM ET
Egypt's Morsi calls for dialogue on elections
By HAMZA HENDAWI??By HAMZA HENDAWI

FILE - In this Friday, Feb. 22, 2013 file photo, Egyptian Ultras, hard-core soccer fans, chant anti-president Mohammed Morsi slogans while attending a rally in front of the provincial government headquarters, unseen, in Port Said, Egypt. Egypt's streets have turned into a daily forum for airing a range of social discontents from labor conditions to fuel shortages and the casualties of myriad clashes over the past two years. Newly called parliamentary elections hold out little hope for plucking the country out of the turmoil and if anything, are likely to just fuel unrest and push it toward economic collapse. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser, File)

FILE - In this Friday, Feb. 22, 2013 file photo, Egyptian Ultras, hard-core soccer fans, chant anti-president Mohammed Morsi slogans while attending a rally in front of the provincial government headquarters, unseen, in Port Said, Egypt. Egypt's streets have turned into a daily forum for airing a range of social discontents from labor conditions to fuel shortages and the casualties of myriad clashes over the past two years. Newly called parliamentary elections hold out little hope for plucking the country out of the turmoil and if anything, are likely to just fuel unrest and push it toward economic collapse. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser, File)

FILE - In this Thursday, Feb. 21, 2013 file photo, an Egyptian Ultras activist chants anti-President Mohammed Morsi slogans while leading a rally during the fifth day of a general strike, in Port Said, Egypt. Egypt's streets have turned into a daily forum for airing a range of social discontents from labor conditions to fuel shortages and the casualties of myriad clashes over the past two years. Newly called parliamentary elections hold out little hope for plucking the country out of the turmoil and if anything, are likely to just fuel unrest and push it toward economic collapse. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser, File)

FILE - In this Thursday, Feb. 21, 2013 file photo, Egyptian men inspect posters of slain men with their pictures and Arabic that reads their names, "Ahmed el-Syyed, Mohammed Ali Ibrahim, Islam, Osama el-Sherbiny, Ahmed el-Shahat," at a protest camp in front of the provincial government headquarters, unseen, during the fifth day of a general strike, in Port Said, Egypt. Egypt's streets have turned into a daily forum for airing a range of social discontents from labor conditions to fuel shortages and the casualties of myriad clashes over the past two years. Newly called parliamentary elections hold out little hope for plucking the country out of the turmoil and if anything, are likely to just fuel unrest and push it toward economic collapse. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser, File)

FILE - In this July 13, 2012 file photo, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi speaks to reporters at the Presidential palace in Cairo. Egypt's streets have turned into a daily forum for airing a range of social discontents from labor conditions to fuel shortages and the casualties of myriad clashes over the past two years. Newly called parliamentary elections hold out little hope for plucking the country out of the turmoil and if anything, are likely to just fuel unrest and push it toward economic collapse. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo, File)

FILE - In this Friday, Feb. 22, 2013 file photo, Egyptian protesters chant anti-President Mohammed Morsi slogans and carry posters with pictures of victims of recent violence and their names in Port Said, Egypt. Egypt's streets have turned into a daily forum for airing a range of social discontents from labor conditions to fuel shortages and the casualties of myriad clashes over the past two years. Newly called parliamentary elections hold out little hope for plucking the country out of the turmoil and if anything, are likely to just fuel unrest and push it toward economic collapse. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser, File)

CAIRO (AP) ? Egypt's Islamist president has invited political forces to join him in a dialogue to find ways to ensure the "integrity and transparency" of upcoming parliamentary elections.

Speaking in a television interview, Mohammed Morsi also rejected opposition charges that the elections he called for April were ill timed given the wave of unrest roiling the country.

"I see that the climate is very agreeable for an election," he said.

Morsi used the interview, recorded on Sunday but aired early Monday 5 ? hours behind schedule, to try and improve his standing nearly eight months into his four-year term.

He repeatedly declared that he was a "president for all Egyptians," claimed he had no quarrel with any of the nation's political forces and reasserted his respect and confidence in the military.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/apdefault/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-02-24-Egypt/id-ac777a1dba59426986d37d7d800e10ed

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2013 Academy Awards: Who Will Win?

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Golf-WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship quarterfinal scores

Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.

NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.

Source: http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/reuters/UKGolfNews/~3/zPgjzJ3595s/golf-wgc-scores-idUKISS39623520130224

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Pope makes last St. Peter's Square window appearance of his pontificate

MARANA, Arizona, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Matt Kuchar derailed Hunter Mahan's bid to win back-to-back titles at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship with a 2&1 victory over his fellow American in the final on Sunday. Four up after nine holes on a chilly afternoon of biting winds at Dove Mountain, Kuchar fended off a late Mahan fightback before sealing the win at the par-four 17th where his opponent took four shots to reach the green. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/pope-makes-last-st-peters-square-window-appearance-110327192.html

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Huawei reveals 'fastest smartphone in the world'

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) ? Huawei, a Chinese company that recently became the world's third-largest maker of smartphones, calls its new flagship product "the fastest smartphone in the world" and wants to use it to expand global awareness of its brand.

Parts of the presentation of the phone at a press conference Sunday in Barcelona, Spain, suggest that the company has some way to go in polishing its pitch for a global audience.

Richard Yu, head of Huawei's consumer business group said the new phone can be programmed to display more than 100 different "themes," or looks. This is important because "ladies like flowers, colorful things," Yu said.

Yu also said Huawei is learning from Apple how to make Google's Android software easier to use, a lawsuit-friendly utterance considering that Apple is on a global campaign to sue makers of Android phones for copying from the iPhone.

The new phone, the Ascend P2, will have a 4.7 inch screen. Yu said it will be available in the April to June time frame for about $525 without a contract. It's the "fastest" because it supports faster download speeds than other phones. However, today's wireless networks aren't equipped to supply those speeds.

Huawei Technologies Ltd. was the world's third largest seller of smartphones, after Samsung and Apple, in the fourth quarter of last year, according to research firm IDC. That's despite selling very few phones in the U.S., where the big phone companies mostly ignore it. It has a much better position in Europe, where cellphone companies have embraced its network equipment, and France's Orange is committed to selling the phone.

In the U.S., a congressional panel recommended in October that phone carriers avoid doing business with Huawei or its smaller Chinese rival, ZTE Corp., for fear that its network equipment could contain "back doors" that enable access to communications from outside. The Chinese government rejected the report as false and an effort to block Chinese companies from the U.S. market.

Meanwhile, a report by a private U.S. cybersecurity firm concluded recently that a special unit of China's military is responsible for sustained cyberespionage against U.S. companies and government agencies. China has denied involvement in the attacks in which massive amounts of data and corporate trade secrets, likely worth hundreds of millions of dollars, were stolen.

"It has not been an easy journey for us," Huawei's global brand director, Amy Lou, said Sunday of the company's quest to become globally recognized and trusted. She called the company "a great consumer brand in the making."

The world's largest cellphone trade show, Mobile World Congress, opens Monday in Barcelona.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/huawei-reveals-fastest-smartphone-world-171144973--finance.html

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Can escape clause save voting rights provision?

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The Obama administration and civil rights groups are defending a key section of the landmark voting rights law at the Supreme Court by pointing reformed state, county and local governments to an escape hatch from the law's strictest provision.

The Voting Rights Act effectively attacked persistent discrimination at the polls by keeping close watch, when it comes to holding elections, on those places with a history of preventing minorities from voting. Any changes, from moving a polling place to redrawing electoral districts, can't take effect without approval from the Justice Department or federal judges in Washington.

But the Voting Right Act allows governments that have changed their ways to get out from under this humbling need to get permission through a "bailout provision." Nearly 250 counties and local jurisdictions have done so; thousands more could be eligible based on the absence of recent discriminatory efforts in voting.

The viability of the bailout option could play an outsized role in the Supreme Court's consideration of the voting rights law's prior approval provision, although four years ago, conservative Justice Clarence Thomas said the prospect of bailing out had been "no more than a mirage."

The court will hear arguments Wednesday in the case, which is among the term's most important, in a challenge from Shelby County, Ala.

Opponents of the law say they no longer should be forced to live under oversight from Washington because the country has made enormous racial progress, demonstrated most recently by the re-election of President Barack Obama. They object in particular to the 40-year-old formula by which some jurisdictions, most in the Deep South, are swept under the law and others remain outside it.

The administration and its allies acknowledge that there has been progress. But they say minority voters still need the protection the law affords from efforts to reduce their influence at the polls. Last year, federal judges in two separate cases blocked Texas from putting in place a voter identification law and congressional redistricting plan because they discriminated against black and Hispanic residents.

Obama himself talked about the case in a radio interview last week. He told SiriusXM host Joe Madison that if the law were stripped of its advance approval provision, "it would be hard for us to catch those things up front to make sure that elections are done in an equitable way."

Also, the law's defenders say places that have changed their ways can win release from having to get Washington's blessing for election changes. Governments seeking to exit have to show that they and the smaller jurisdictions within their borders have had a clean record, no evidence of discrimination in voting, for the past 10 years.

Shelby County has never asked to be freed from the law, but would seem to be ineligible because one city in the county, Calera, defied the voting rights law and prompted intervention by the Bush Justice Department.

Yet places with a long, well-known history of discrimination probably could find their way out from under federal monitoring, according to a prominent voting rights lawyer who used to work for the Justice Department.

"Birmingham, Ala., where they used to use fire hoses on people, may well be eligible to bail out," said the lawyer, Gerry Hebert. Birmingham officials said they've never considered asking.

The Supreme Court made clear its skepticism about the ongoing need for the law when it heard a similar case in 2009. "Past success alone, however, is not adequate justification to retain the preclearance requirements," Chief Justice John Roberts said for the court. That ruling sidestepped the constitutional issue and instead expanded the ability of states, counties and local governments to exit the advance approval process.

At that point, so few governments had tried to free themselves from the advance approval requirement that, in 2009, Thomas said the "promise of a bailout opportunity has, in the great majority of cases, turned out to be no more than a mirage."

At the time, Thomas said, only a handful of the 12,000 state, county and local governments covered by the law had successfully bailed out.

The overall numbers remain low, but the Obama administration argues that "the rate of successful bailouts has rapidly increased" since the high court last took up the Voting Rights Act nearly four years ago.

In the past 12 months, 110 local governments have been freed from the requirement to show in advance that their proposed election changes are not discriminatory. Places that have won their release from coverage include Prince William County, Va., with more than 400,000 residents, and Merced County, Calif., and its 84 municipalities.

Shelby County says that even with the recent jump in bailouts, "only a tiny percentage" of governments have found their way out of oversight from Washington.

The advance approval was adopted in the Voting Rights Act in 1965 to give federal officials a potent tool to defeat persistent efforts to keep blacks from voting.

The provision was a huge success, and Congress periodically has renewed it over the years. The most recent time was in 2006, when a Republican-led Congress overwhelmingly approved and President George W. Bush signed a 25-year extension.

The requirement currently applies to the states of Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia. It also covers certain counties in California, Florida, New York, North Carolina and South Dakota, and some local jurisdictions in Michigan and New Hampshire. Coverage has been triggered by past discrimination not only against blacks, but also against American Indians, Asian-Americans, Alaskan Natives and Hispanics.

The 10 covered towns in New Hampshire are poised to become the next places to win their release from the law. An agreement between the Justice Department and the state is awaiting approval from a federal court in Washington.

Critics of the law contend the Justice Department is highlighting the escape hatch and agreeing to allow places such as the New Hampshire towns to exit to try to make the entire law look more palatable to the court.

Alaska Attorney General Michael Geraghty says in his court filing in support of Shelby County that the Justice Department "commonly agrees to bailouts for jurisdictions that are not legally entitled to receive them."

But supporters of the law argue in response that the federal government's willingness to agree to free places from the need to get permission shows that the voting rights act is flexible and helps focus attention on potentially discriminatory voting schemes.

___

Online:

Voting Rights Act: http://www.justice.gov/crt/about/vot/sec_5/about.php

Supreme Court: http://tinyurl.com/a4kmqsd

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/escape-clause-save-voting-rights-provision-132218205--politics.html

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Genomic detectives crack the case of the missing heritability

Feb. 22, 2013 ? Despite years of research, the genetic factors behind many human diseases and characteristics remain unknown. The inability to find the complete genetic causes of family traits such as height or the risk of type 2 diabetes has been called the "missing heritability" problem.

A new study by Princeton University researchers, however, suggests that missing heritability may not be missing after all -- at least not in yeast cells, which the researchers used as a model for studying the problem. Published in the journal Nature, the results suggest that heritability in humans may be hidden due only to the limitations of modern research tools, but could be discovered if scientists know where (and how) to look.

"The message of our study is that if you look hard enough you will find the missing heritability," said the senior researcher, Leonid Kruglyak, Princeton's William R. Harman '63 and Mary-Love Harman Professor in Genomics and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator. Kruglyak worked with first author Joshua Bloom, a Princeton graduate student; Wesley Loo, a 2010 Princeton graduate now a graduate student at Harvard University; Thuy-Lan Lite, Class of 2012, who is working at the National Institutes of Health for a year before starting graduate school; and Ian Ehrenreich, a past Princeton postdoctoral researcher now at the University of Southern California.

"We don't think there is some fundamental limitation -- such as that there are things we don't understand about how genes behave -- that is holding us back," Kruglyak said. "Instead, we should be able to detect the heritability in humans if we use the right tools."

Passed down from parent to child, genes determine not only eye color and other physical characteristics but also the risk of diseases. Some inherited diseases are caused by a mutation in a single gene. These single-gene disorders have well-defined patterns of inheritance that can be used to predict the chances that an individual will inherit the disease.

However, many diseases and physical traits arise due to multiple genes, multiple locations within genes, and even the regions of DNA between genes. Across the genome -- which is an individual's total genetic content -- small variations in DNA code can, when added together, increase or decrease the likelihood that a person will develop a disease or characteristic.

Height, for example, results from variations in DNA at multiple locations on the genome. Researchers have detected about 180 locations in the human genome where small alterations in the DNA code can have an influence on how tall or short a person is. Nonetheless, these locations account for only 13 percent of the expected contribution genetic code has on a person's height.

Type 2 diabetes also has missing heritability: About 40 identified genome locations are associated with the risk of developing the condition, but those account for only 10 percent of the estimated genetic influence. Finding the missing heritability for diseases like type 2 diabetes, Crohn's disease and schizophrenia could help inform prevention and treatment strategies.

In the present study, the researchers scanned the genomes of yeast cells for DNA variations -- which can be thought of as spelling errors in the four-letter DNA code -- and then matched those variations with qualities or characteristics inherited from the cells' parents. The researchers detected numerous DNA variations that, when added together, accounted for almost all of the offsprings' inherited characteristics, indicating that there was very little missing heritability in yeast.

Although the search for heritability was successful in yeast, finding missing heritability in humans is far more complicated, Kruglyak said. For example, interactions between genes can contribute to heritable traits, but such interactions are difficult to detect with genome-wide association studies (GWAS), which are the primary means by which geneticists look for DNA variations associated with diseases or traits. In addition, environmental factors such as nutrition also can influence gene activity, and these influences can be elusive to the genome-wide study. GWAS also may be inadequate at detecting common DNA spelling errors that have only small effects, or it may fail to find DNA variations that have a large effect but are rare.

The study sheds light on the role of nature (genetic factors) versus nurture (environmental factors) in determining traits and disease risk, according to Bert Vogelstein, director of the Ludwig Center at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator.

"The nature versus nurture argument has been brewing for decades, both among scientists and the lay public, and 'missing heritability' has been problematic for the 'nature' component," said Vogelstein, who was not involved in the Princeton study.

"This beautiful study demonstrates that the genetic basis for heritability (nature) can be precisely defined if extensive, well-controlled experiments can be performed," Vogelstein said. "Though the results were obtained in a model organism, I would be surprised if they didn't apply, at least in part, to higher organisms, including humans."

Kruglyak said that one approach to finding the missing heritability in humans might be to apply genome-wide scans to large families, rather than focusing on large populations as is currently done. Family studies take advantage of the fact that the same genetic variations will be more common in families -- and thus easier to detect. However, the disadvantage of family studies is that the detected genetic variations may not be widespread in the population.

For the study in yeast, the team examined the offspring of two yeast cells, one that is commonly used in laboratory studies and the other in wine making. Although yeast usually reproduce asexually, under certain conditions, such as lack of food, two yeast cells will mate and produce offspring that, like human children, receive roughly half their genetic material from each parent. "Our study involves thousands of 'kids' from a single set of parents," Kruglyak said.

The team first sequenced the genomes of the two parent cells and then conducted scans for DNA variations in the genomes of 1,008 offspring. Yeast do not inherit height or disease risk from their parents, but they can inherit the ability to survive in adverse conditions. The researchers tested the parents and their offspring for the ability to grow under various conditions, including different temperatures, acidity levels, food sources, antibiotics, metal compounds, and in drugs such as caffeine.

The researchers then looked for associations between the DNA variations inherited from the parents and growth ability, and determined that the DNA variations accounted for nearly all of the resilience noted in the offspring.

The paper, "Finding the sources of missing heritability in a yeast cross," was published in Nature on Feb. 3, 2013. This work was supported by National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants R37 MH59520 and R01 GM102308; a James S. McDonnell Centennial Fellowship (L.K.); the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (L.K.); a National Science Foundation (NSF) fellowship (J.S.B.); an NIH postdoctoral fellowship F32 HG51762 (I.M.E.); and NIH grant P50 GM071508 to the Center for Quantitative Biology at the Lewis-Sigler Institute of Princeton University.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Princeton University. The original article was written by Catherine Zandonella.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

---

Journal Reference:

1. Joshua S. Bloom, Ian M. Ehrenreich, Wesley T. Loo, Th?y-Lan V? Lite, Leonid Kruglyak. Finding the sources of missing heritability in a yeast cross. Nature, 2013; 494 (7436): 234 DOI: 10.1038/nature11867

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/bcvfBHxI58A/130222121047.htm

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Ex-Canada ambassador slighted by Affleck's "Argo"

FILE - In this Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2012 file photo, former Canadian Ambassador Ken Taylor and his wife Pat, pose for photographers at the premiere of the film Argo in Washington. Taylor, Canada's former ambassador in Iran, who protected Americans at great personal risk during the Iran hostage crisis of 1979, says if "Argo" wins the Oscar for best picture on Sunday there would be something wrong with director Ben Affleck if he didn't mention Canada, Friday, Feb. 22, 2013. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen, File)

FILE - In this Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2012 file photo, former Canadian Ambassador Ken Taylor and his wife Pat, pose for photographers at the premiere of the film Argo in Washington. Taylor, Canada's former ambassador in Iran, who protected Americans at great personal risk during the Iran hostage crisis of 1979, says if "Argo" wins the Oscar for best picture on Sunday there would be something wrong with director Ben Affleck if he didn't mention Canada, Friday, Feb. 22, 2013. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen, File)

TORONTO (AP) ? The Canadian former ambassador to Iran who protected Americans at great personal risk during the 1979 Iran hostage crisis says it will reflect poorly on Ben Affleck if he doesn't say a few words about Canada's role if the director's film "Argo" wins the Oscar for best picture Sunday.

But Ken Taylor ? who said he feels slighted by the movie because it makes Canada look like a meek observer to CIA heroics in the rescue of six U.S. citizens caught in the crisis ? is not expecting it.

"I would hope he would. If he doesn't than it's a further reflection," Taylor said. "But given the events of the last while I'm not necessarily anticipating anything."

Taylor kept the Americans hidden at the embassy in Tehran and facilitated their escape by getting fake passports and plane tickets for them. He became a hero in Canada and the United States after. The role he played in helping the Americans to freedom was minimized in the film.

"In general it makes it seem like the Canadians were just along for the ride. The Canadians were brave. Period," Taylor said.

Affleck's thriller is widely expected to win the best-picture trophy. Two other high-profile best-picture nominees this year, Kathryn Bigelow's "Zero Dark Thirty" and Steven Spielberg's "Lincoln," have also been criticized for their portrayal of some factual issues.

Affleck said in a statement Friday night he thought his issue with Taylor had been resolved.

"I admire Ken very much for his role in rescuing the six houseguests. I consider him a hero.?In light of my many conversations as well as a change to an end card that Ken requested I am surprised that Ken continues to take issue with the film," he said in a statement. "I spoke to him recently when he asked me to narrate a documentary he is prominently featured in and yet he didn't mention any lingering concerns.?I agreed to do it and I look forward to seeing Ken at the recording."

Taylor noted that former U.S. President Jimmy Carter appeared on CNN on Thursday night and said "90 percent of the contributions to the ideas and the consummation of the plan was Canadian," but the film "gives almost full credit to the American CIA."

Carter also called "Argo" a complete distortion of what happened when he accepted an honorary degree from Queen's University in Canada in November.

"I saw the movie Argo recently and I was taken aback by its distortion of what happened because almost everything that was heroic, or courageous or innovative was done by Canada and not the United States," Carter said.

Taylor said there would be no movie without the Canadians.

"We took the six in without being asked so it starts there," Taylor said. "And the fact that we got them out with some help from the CIA then that's where the story loses itself. I think Jimmy Carter has it about right, it was 90 percent Canada, 10 percent the CIA."

He said CIA agent Tony Mendez, played by Affleck in the film, was only in Iran for a day and a half.

The movie also makes no mention of John Sheardown, a deputy at the Canadian embassy who sheltered some of the Americans. Taylor said it was Sheardown who took the first call and agreed right away to take the Americans in. Sheardown recently died and his wife, Zena, called the movie disappointing.

Friends of Taylor were outraged last September when "Argo" debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival. The original postscript of the movie said that Taylor received 112 citations and awards for his work in freeing the hostages and suggested Taylor didn't deserve them because the movie ends with the CIA deciding to let Canada have the credit for helping the Americans escape

Taylor called the postscript lines "disgraceful and insulting" and said it would have caused outrage in Canada if the lines were not changed. Affleck flew Taylor to Los Angeles after the Toronto debut and allowed him to insert a postscript that gave Canada some credit.

Taylor called it a good movie and said he's not rooting against it, but said it is far from accurate.

"He's a good director. It's got momentum. There's nothing much right from Day 1 I could do about the movie. I changed a line at the end because the caption at the end was disgraceful. It's like Tiananmen Square, you are sitting in front of a big tank," he said.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-02-23-Canada-Argo%20Slight/id-244998ce05c44a6aa87166bc7f0656c6

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Lindsay Lohan Gets Nothing In 'Everything' Lawsuit Against Pitbull

Judge drops actresses' lawsuit against rapper over lyrics from his song 'Give Me Everything.'

Lindsay Lohan
Photo: Jason LaVeris/ FilmMagic

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1702397/lindsay-lohan-pitbull-lawsuit-end.jhtml

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Video: What Happened to the Beauty Queen, Part 1

Dateline NBC

'Dateline NBC,' the signature broadcast for NBC News in primetime, premiered in 1992. Since then, it has been pioneering a new approach to primetime news programming. The multi-night franchise, supplemented by frequent specials, allows NBC to consistently and comprehensively present the highest-quality reporting, investigative features, breaking news coverage and newsmaker profiles.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/id/3032600/vp/50914224#50914224

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Israel to launch oil exploration at Golan Heights

February 21, 2013 - 17:53 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Israeli government has issued the first license to explore for oil on the Golan Heights, the plateau in south-western Syria captured and annexed by Israel, the license holder Genie Energy said on Thursday, February 21, according to RIA Novosti.

The license allows Genie Energy?s Israeli subsidiary to conduct oil exploration on an area of almost 400 sq km (155 square miles) in the plateau's southern portion.

?The company believes, based on its preliminary analysis and interpretation of existing geological data, that the newly-issued license area may contain significant quantities of conventional oil and gas in relatively tight formations, the development of which would entail significantly different technical approaches and project timelines than the other projects,? Genie Energy said in a statement.

Genie Energy intends to conduct exploration to further investigate the size and quality of the oil resources in the new license area, Genie said.

Israel seized the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed it in 1981 in a move not recognized internationally. Most of the Syrian Arab inhabitants fled the area during the conflict.

Israel?s economic projects on disputed territories have frequently sparked criticism from the international community.

Source: http://www.panarmenian.net/eng/news/146913/

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Best iPhone calculator app for students

MyScript Calculator for iPhone is the perfect option for students. It uses an input we are all familiar with, our own handwriting, and not only recognizes the equations you write, but works them out for you.

If you're a high school or college student with an iPhone, you've probably noticed the abundance of calculator apps available in the App Store. While some have specific uses such as finance calculators or engineering calculators, you probably won't need all the functions they offer while studying for a calculus exam. When it comes to schoolwork, math symbols and shift keys on calculators can not only be confusing, but tedious to use, especially if you make a mistake and have to start over.

When you launch MyScript Calculator, you're be presented with a blank sheet of what looks like graph paper. Start writing equations and MyScript will start auto converting what you're writing into typed text to make it cleaner (think OCR for math). This also gives you more space to freehand write as you go. For example, if you draw a division sign underneath a block of numbers you've already written, the content will be moved upwards so you can continue working. If you make a mistake, just scribble a number out and it will disappear. What's more, MyScript will automatically start calculating for you.

MyScript supports basic addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, square roots, exponential equations, and more. There's also an option for degree and radian toggles. They'll automatically appear as you use them, or you can permanently enable them to from the settings menu. When solving for an unknown variable, simply put a question mark where you'd like MyScript to fill in the answer. You can also share any equations you solve with someone else via email, Twitter, or Facebook.

Many scientific and graphing calculator apps can sometimes put a pretty big dent in your wallet. MyScript can perform a lot of the same tasks in a more natural way, and it's free. So, if you're a student looking for the best calculator option for your iPhone, make sure you give MyScript a try.

• Free - Download Now

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/XZ8kQMTH9Ow/story01.htm

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Monster sunspot swells, threatens solar storms

A colossal sunspot on the surface of the sun is large enough to swallow six Earths whole, and could trigger solar flares this week, NASA scientists say.

The giant sunspot was captured on camera by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory as it swelled to enormous proportions over the 48 hours spanning Tuesday and Wednesday (Feb. 19 and 20). SDO is one of several spacecraft that constantly monitor the sun's space weather environment.

"It has grown to over six Earth diameters across, but its full extent is hard to judge since the spot lies on a sphere, not a flat disk," wrote NASA spokeswoman Karen Fox, of the agency's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., in an image description.

The sunspot region is actually a collection of dark blemishes on the surface of the sun that evolved rapidly over the last two days. Sunspots form from shifting magnetic fields at the sun's surface, and are actually cooler than their surrounding solar material.

According to Fox, some of the intense magnetic fields in the sunspot region are pointing in opposite directions, making it ripe for solar activity.

"This is a fairly unstable configuration that scientists know can lead to eruptions of radiation on the sun called solar flares," Fox explained.

The sun is currently in the midst of an active phase of its 11-year solar weather cycle and is expected to reach peak activity sometime this year. The current sun weather cycle is known as Solar Cycle 24.

NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory launched in 2010 and is just one of a fleet of spacecraft keeping close watch on the sun for signs of solar flares, eruptions and other space weather events.

You can follow SPACE.com Managing Editor Tariq Malik on Twitter?@tariqjmalik.?Follow SPACE.com on Twitter?@Spacedotcom. We're also on Facebook?&?Google+.?

Copyright 2013 SPACE.com, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nasa-sees-monster-sunspot-growing-fast-solar-storms-003249636.html

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Jesse Jackson Jr. guilty plea: 'For years I lived off my campaign' (+video)

Former US Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. pleaded guilty Wednesday to federal charges stemming from use of $750,000 in campaign donations for everything from a Rolex watch and furs to toilet paper and food. His wife, a former Chicago alderman, also pleaded guilty.

By Mark Guarino,?Staff writer / February 20, 2013

Former Illinois Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. and his legal team arrives at the E. Barrett Prettyman Federal Courthouse in Washington, Feb. 20.

Evan Vucci/AP

Enlarge

Former US Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D) of Illinois and his wife, former Chicago alderman Sandi Jackson, pleaded guilty in federal court Wednesday to charges related to the use of $750,000 in campaign funds for a personal seven-year spending spree.

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Jesse Jackson Jr., once a rising political star, pleaded guilty to charges he spent campaign funds on himself, his family and his house. Dean Reynolds reports on how the former congressman looted the funds of his donors.

A 22-page document released by the US Attorney?s Office Wednesday details ways the couple collaborated to conceal the spending from federal authorities, even as they solicited fresh campaign donations to keep the spigot flowing. It also outlined how the Jacksons spent campaign money on both the sublime (a $43,350 gold-plated Rolex watch, furs, and exclusive sports and celebrity memorabilia) and the mundane (toilet paper, underwear, children?s vitamins, and food).

?Jesse Jackson lied many time over many years to hide this fraud from the government and most importantly, from his constituents,? US Attorney Ron Machin said at a press conference late Wednesday. ?It?s important to remember the true victims of Jackson?s crimes. This sort of conduct, I don?t think we?ve ever seen it to this scope if you look at the list of items and the amount spent. His [campaign fund] was his personal piggy bank.?

Both Jacksons broke down in tears several times during their separate hearings in Washington. Mr. Jackson, who was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, mail fraud, and false statements, told US District Judge Robert Wilkins he wished to waive his right to a trial because he has ?no interest in wasting the taxpayers? time or their money.?

?For years I lived off my campaign. I used money that should have been for campaign purposes, and I used them for myself personally,? he said.

Ms. Jackson, who is charged with a single tax crime, also waived her right to a trial and is set for sentencing July 1. Her husband, scheduled for sentencing June 28, faces a possible prison term of nearly five years and a fine of up to $100,000. Sandi Jackson faces a possible prison term of nearly two years.

Under the plea agreement, Mr. Jackson will be sentenced to between 46 and 57 months. His lead attorney, Reid Weingarten, is likely to argue for the shorter sentence on grounds that bipolar depression, a diagnosis Jackson received last fall, contributed to his actions.

Mr. Machin, however, noted Wednesday that Jackson ?was an efficient congressman? during the seven years in question and capably made numerous public appearances, including a speech at the Democratic National Convention in 2008.??It?s hard for me to imagine how they?re going to reconcile this scheme and it being a byproduct of a recent medical condition,? he said.

Marcellus McRae, a former federal prosecutor now in private practice in Los Angeles, says that because Mr. Weingarten did not use the medical condition as a factor to fight the indictment, it may not be a strong enough argument.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/CzHNyuz890g/Jesse-Jackson-Jr.-guilty-plea-For-years-I-lived-off-my-campaign-video

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Found! Tiny Moon-Size Alien World Is the Smallest Exoplanet

The discovery of a strange new world about the size of Earth's moon has shattered the record for the smallest known alien planet, scientists say.

The newfound alien planet Kepler-37b is the first exoplanet discovered to be smaller than Mercury. It whips around its parent star every 13 days and has a roasting surface temperature of about 800 degrees Fahrenheit (427 Celsius), researchers said. It not a promising contender for life, they added.

Astronomers found Kepler-37b and two other, larger planets (called Kepler-37c and Kepler-37d) orbiting a star about 215 light-years from Earth using NASA's prolific Kepler space telescope. Finding such a small exoplanet with the Kepler spacecraft was a stretch, but some attributes of Kepler-37b's parent star made the discovery possible.

The star has few sunspots and is bright relative to its planet, making it easier for the Kepler spacecraft to spot the telltale dimming that takes place when a planet passes in front of its star, which scientists call a transit. That method revealed not just the presence of Kepler-37b, but its two siblings in orbits farther from the parent star than 37b. [Gallery: The?Smallest Alien Planets]

"There are not many signals masking the transit," study leader Thomas Barclay of NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif., told SPACE.com. "What makes this exceptional was this dip of brightness was just 22 parts per million."

Too hot to host life

Kepler-37b and its siblings, 37c and 37d, are likely uninhabitable, scientists said. All three planets lie close to their parent star, well inside the Earth-sun distance (called astronomical units, or AU). One astronomical unit is about 93 million miles (150 million kilometers).

The moon-size Kepler-37b is so close to its parent star, at just 0.10 AU, that it likely has no atmosphere or liquid water on its surface. The next planet out, Kepler-37c, is slightly smaller than Earth and may have an atmosphere, but it orbits the star at 0.14 AU ? well outside the star's habitable zone in which liquid water could exist on the surface.

The biggest planet in the newfound alien solar system is Kepler-37d. It is about twice the size of Earth and orbits the parent star at a distance of 0.2 AU.

"This could hold an atmosphere, but it's unlikely to be a rocky planet ? more likely to be gassy ? simply because of its size. It could hold some kind of liquid at the surface," Barclay said.

The next step, Barclay added, will be to look for Mercury-sized exoplanets at greater distances away from the host star Kepler 37. More planets could be orbiting the star and await discovery.

"We're looking at it very carefully," Barclay said. "There's nothing yet, but something may appear in the data."

Starlight tells the tale

Barclay and his team took great care to confirm the existence of planets around Kepler-37. Theresearchers knew that a dip in the star's brightness identified by the Kepler spacecraft could have come from several factors, most notably another star passingin front of the Kepler-37 target. So they ran a computer simulation to see if the newfound planet candidates could be false positives.

Using a tool called Blender from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, the researchers simulated several false positive scenarios in order to eliminate them. The results made researchers more than 99 percent confident that the planet candidates are actual planets, Barclay said.

The science team managed to obtain a close approximation of the size of the Kepler-37 star, in addition to spotting its planetary retinue.

The star's quiescent nature allowed the researchers to measure it with astroseismology, a technique that uses acoustic oscillations on the star's surface similar to how researchers probe the Earth's interior with seismic devices during earthquakes.

The uncertainty for a star's size is typically 20 to 30 percent, Barclay said. In this case, using astroseismology, the researchers narrowed the uncertainty to 3 percent.

Measurements showed Kepler-37 is about 75 percent the size of Earth's sun and 80 percent as massive. This places the star within the same "class" of stars as our sun.

The $600 million Kepler mission launched in March 2009, and has found more than 2,740 alien worlds so far. The spacecraft searches for small dips in stars' light caused by orbiting planets that pass in front of them periodically, diming their brightness.

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/found-tiny-moon-size-alien-world-smallest-exoplanet-182244779.html

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